Physician-own outpatient surgery centers growing in Ohio

Technological advances have allowed physician-owned outpatient surgery centers to expand the services they offer. At the same time, the nation’s aging population may soon require more inpatient care, leaving the future uncertain for independent surgery centers (Source: “Cincinnati's growing outpatient trend puts health care in flux,” Business Courier of Cincinnati, July 28, 2008).

In Cincinnati, more than 77 percent of surgeries performed by hospitals tracked by the Cincinnati Health Council are done on an outpatient basis. Increasingly, however, those outpatient procedures are being done at independent, physician-owned surgery centers. In fact, about 387,600 procedures are performed per year by the Ohio Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers' membership, which includes roughly half of the ambulatory surgery centers in Ohio.

"It's what people want," said Randy Leffler, executive director of the association. "When you can get people back into their homes for recovery, that's oftentimes the preferable avenue. I think that's why the ambulatory surgery center setting has become a popular choice for the patient and the physicians."